that knockout blow. although the campaign never issued any photographs, i'd hazard is guess that is it exactly how mr. romney looked on the night of november 6th about 11:20 p.m. overconfident, surprised by the punch. thanks so much for watching this afternoon on this monday. chris matthews and "hardball" is next. the bands of marriage. let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. let me start with this. are we living in a liberal hour? four states voted against or actually voted last month either for gay marriage equality or against efforts to deny it. the issue that just eight years

ago was used to deny victory to a democratic presidential candidate, john kerry, is now this country's majority opinion. well, something here has stirred but what is it in what has shifted the grunt tw-thirds against smement marriage to more than 50% for it in compassion, common sense, idea fatigue? the inability of opponents to specify a single argument against it or is it the sheer number of declarations to family, friends, co-workers and public by so many people that they are gay? is this why owe so many americans have changed their mind on marriage equality? in any case tonight a major break through in the conservative ranks. our guest clark cooper, president of the log cabin republicans, and joan walsh of salon.com. let's take a look at something that george will said this weekend and the question is has the opposition of gay marriage softened even along conservative. take a look at what mr. will said this weekend. let's watch it. >> this decision by the supreme

court came 31 days after an election day in which three states for the first time endorsed same-sex marriage at the ballot box. never happened before, maine, maryland, and the state of washington. now, the question is how will that influence the court? it could make them say, it's not necessary for us to go here. on the other hand, they could say it's now safe to look at this because there's something like an emerging consensus. quite literally the opposition to gay marriage is dying. it's old people. >> dying. that's brutal. will is onto something there. the question of marriage rights for gays and lesbians is barely an issue for young people. take a look at this gallup poll from last pont. 73% of people in the younger age cattory, between 18 and 29, say same-sex marriage should be valid. only 29 -- 26% of that group say they don't like it. now, this is an amazing development. i want to start can clark cooper. you have lied this, you're gay, you're a republican which i always found an interesting combination.

you can explain it. your party is against same-sex marriage. you fought that battle at least in your platform and the public positions. we'll argue about that in a minute. what do you make about the fact that somebody like george will, he's all been reigning pretty high for years, him saying the fight is over because the people against it are too old to be alive anymore. >> what george is saying is a reflection of what we saw in the platform debates. there was a debate about doma, about striking doma from the platform. those who fought for it tended to be much older in that demographic. the younger the republican, the younger the conservative, the younger the libertarian, the chances are they're either agnostic or their fully -- >> you're getting into it much faster than i want to. we're going to go to blows. here it is, the language on gay marriage. it's not just against doma. quote, we reaffirm our support for a constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman. we aflawed the citizens of the majority of states which have enshrined in their constitutions

the traditional concept of marriage, and we support the campaigns under way in several other states to do so. and take a look at what the republican candidate mitt romney said back in may about his opposition to not only gay marriage, but even civil unions. let's watch. >> i think people have differing views on marriage, and i respect people's different views. when i served as governor of my state, this issue arose, same-sex marriage and civil union. i pointed out that i'm in favor of traditional marriage between a man and a woman and i don't favor civil union or gay marriage. >> clark, your party is so far right on this issue, they're not going to do anything about doma, they want to put it in the constitution you can never have a same-sex marriage. >> it's not going to happen. >> why are they putting it in the platform? >> that is a problem. this is what we fought against this summer in tampa. what did happen in that committee in the general committee on the platform for the first time, there was outright vocal healthy opposition to that language.

in fact, there was even intent to compromise with civil unions. obviously that failed, but -- >> why don't you have a floor demonstration against it like in the old days. everybody who is pro gay rights and for gay marriage equality, why don't you go to the floor of the convention, walk around with placards and say this isn't fair. why don't do you that? >> you saw an anchor around the neck of candidates up and down the ticket. usually plat forges of no con quens for any candidate at any time. this time it did matter -- >> what did you personally do to stop them -- >> what would i do? >> what did you do? did you testify? >> yes, we did. >> you did? personally? >> yes. preplatform hearing sessions, there are meetings at the rny, log could be bin republicans was invited to attend. we went through line by line and gave guidances on what to avoid and what could be put in to be helpful. one of the things we did get in there was don't mess with open service. the rnc years ago had said we're

not going to support that. we got that -- >> removed that. let me go back to joan. thanks for joining us tonight, joan. i think this is a partisan issue, and i'm being very fair because i do read platforms unlike you, clark, and i take them seriously. if a party is going to campaign for historic inequality and fight for it in perpetuity to the point of putting it in the constitution then running on that platform means something to me. serious challenge to the direction of history. your thoughts? >> i agree and i know clark has fought the good fight and lost and i expect he's going to continue to lose for at least a little while, chris. the arc of history is bending in the direction of gay rights and, you know, to have george will say that, it was brutal, but it was also true. when you look at the younger generation, you look at our kids, and even republican kids, they're not as liberal on this issue as democratic kids, but they're getting there. so over time this will change. the problem right now for clark and for all republicans w40 are trying to liberalize their party in any way, maybe that's on immigration or maybe that's on

women's rights, is that they have doubled down on a certain kind of hide bound white conservative christian very backwards base, and they have pandered to that base for so long that it's very -- sgroo not only that -- >> it's very hard to imagine an electoral future -- >> it's worse than that, joan. i'm sorry to interrupt. it's worse than that. >> all right. >> you guys, karl rove and your buddies, remember karl rove. eight years ago you went up to ohio and cleveland in the black areas and basically went to the black ministers up there, karl rove and who was that guy, the boxing promoter, and you guys -- don king, and you rallied all them, we have to fight this gay marriage thing and you used that to destroy john kerry in ohio and cost him the electoral college. >> that was an exploding cigar and we're paying -- >> where were you then? did you fight -- >> i was fighting in iraq. i was deployed in iraq so i was -- >> touche you win. thank you for your service. thank you for your service. it's a very good alibi. >> but we paid for it in the '08

cycle when we weren't running on it. we certainly weren't running on it in 2012. we have been trying to run away from this issue and we have been paying for it in spades since '04. as you said earlier, the platform document -- >> this country has never gone through a faster transition in thinking and i'm part of it, all right. everybody is part of it in different degrees. the public attitudes on marriage equal ilt has shifted dramatically in a short period of time. take away these numbers tonight. i think you will be astounded. in 1996 not a million years ago, only 27% of the country supported same-sex marriage. just about a quarter of us. nearly 70% were opposed. today a majority, a healthy majority, 53%, support. only 46% oppose. it doesn't gone completely the other way but it has gone -- i don't think there's any other issue. has anybody ever changed their mind as quickly? i remember barry goldwater once opposed, i always liked the guy and disagreed with him. he was aposed to 18-year-olds getting the right to vote until somebody pointed out, have you

noticed we're drafting these guys? and we're not letting them vote. he said you got me there. i think we should let them vote. he changed his mind on the floort of the senate. >> ideas about interracial marriage have changed but not nearly as fast. i don't think it's true to say nobody ran on this issue. mitt romney said again and again he was against marriage equal y equality, against civil unions. he ran in the '90s as more pro gay rights than ted kennedy which was crazy. >> he'd say one man and one woman. it was a very interesting way he would define -- >> one man, one man and one woman. >> group marriage is what we're all for. >> i'm sorry. >> i don't think it's fair to say that nobody ran on it. mitt romney made it very clear that he was against marriage equality and so did a lot of other republicans. so you are really -- fighting an uphill battle. i think your side is going to win eventually. >> we are going to win. >> when is your party going to change platform, give me a year. 2012, 2016, 2020.

>> i would say this next go around. >> really? >> well, remove it. just strike it. >> problems for the log cabin? >> this is not log cabin, this is gop at large. rit large. >> i love when people talk like that. >> if you look at college republicans, we're talking about the demographic shifts, the three of us recognize what george will stated the other day. the college republicans in ape 09 three years ago up dated their platform -- >> speak right now to all gay republicans out there. what should they do to change their platform. >> we need to be involved in the party process. you need to be a delegate to the convention. you need to be a delegate on the platform committee. be involved in your state party, involved in state parties like oregon where they changed their platform. you need to be involved in state party politics and that's how we get involved in the national party. that's how it works. so you don't want to depend on a surrogate per se.

>> why can't republicans lean forward or backward? >> forward. >> good. thank you clark cooper, joan walsh. coming up. when charlie crist made it official and make a democrat, he bap the first big state governor to switch sides since john conley of texas became a republican. the gop has declared war on it's moderat moderates. the former and perhaps future governor of florida, charlie crist joins us tonight. president obama is campaigning and republicans are considering. will the president gain a small victory on taxes or a big deal. and we have the annual list of the most notable quotes of the year, the verbal gaffes forever. the list is fool of bloopers like legitimate rape and etch-a-sket etch-a-sketch. let's see if you can guess which verbal stupble made the top of the list. let me finish with the key percentages of the year. remember 1%? remember 8%? and, of course, 47%. this is "hardball," the place for politics. [ loud party sounds ]

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listen to what newt gingrich said about hillary clinton and the future of his party yesterday on "meet the press." >> if their competitor in '16 is going to be hillary clinton, supported by bill clinton and presumably a still relatively popular president barack obama, trying to win that will be truly the super bowl, and the republican party today is incapable of competing at that level. >> incapable of competing at that level. what a statement. hillary clinton isn't saying anything right now about her plans. "the new york times" reported over the weekend that aides and friends say they expect she'll exit the state department shortly after the inauguration this january 20th and spend a couple months resting and thinking about what she wants to do next. i think that makes sense. and we'll be right back. ♪

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welcome back to "hardball." when the governor of a major state switches political parties, it's very big news.

it's last time this happened in a big state was when the former governor of texas, john conley, switched in 1973. now we've got former florida governor charlie crist who served the state as a republican announcing this weekend he's leaving the party, joining the democrats. in a tweet friday night he wrote, quote, proud and honored to join the democratic party in the home of president obama. he was accompanied by this picture of him taken at the white house with his voter registration form. i'm joined by former florida republican governor democrat charlie crist. governor, i always will call you governor, it may be appropriate some day, but it's an honor to have you on this show. i have to hit you up front with a "hardball" question. peter feeman, who is now and still your republican national committeeman, he said you sat at his table not too long ago, his breakfast table, and you said ima ronald reagan republican. were you then, are you now so changed that that's not true? >> i think the party's changed is what's really happened.

i think reagan is a great example. my friend jeb bush not long ago, in fact, said that ronald reagan probably would not be successful in today's republican party. that tells you everything you need to know. and i really think it's the leadership of the party more than the membership. but what's happened is on issue after issue, chris, and you know this better than i do, whether it's immigration, education, voter suppression, what the leadership of the party has done is say on immigration, you know, you got -- we want deportation. when it talks about education, it's talking about not funding it anymore. when they talk about voter suppression, they deny people the right to vote in a civil manner -- >> but you grew up in this party. it has been a party tough on immigration before, hasn't it? hasn't it been a party on a number of the issues you mentioned before? before recently. when is the big -- when do you think the republican party in your terms broke bad? when did it start to be a party you couldn't be comfortably a member of anymore as governor or as a political person at all? >> i think it started several

years ago, maybe three, two, three years ago. i left the party two years ago and became an independent. and i did so because of the fact that, you know, on all of those issues it just wasn't comfortable for me to be there anymore. i mean, you know, everybody has the right to be a member of whatever party they want and i respect that. but, you know, for me as a live and let live kind of guy, as somebody who wants to be tolerant, who wants to be kind, who wants to be compassionate, you know, the leadership of the republican party today doesn't seem to embrace that kind of view, and so it became uncomfortable to me. the values that my mother and father raised me and my three sisters with were to do undo others, be good to other people, reach out to them. you know, we're all in this together, you're not on your own. those kind of things really matter. >> i love all that. >> i think they matter to the american people. >> i have to warn you, governor, as someone of the center left who has experienced this, there is a blue plate special aspect to both political parties. where you have to buy into everything. for example, you have to be against vouchers now.

do you know that? undered democratic party you must be totally for the public school teachers union. that's the deal. are you comfortable with that? >> i'm fine with that. >> are you for any kind of enforcement on immigration? because i never heard a democrat talk about it. are you comfortable with that kind of thinking? actually a law you have to have a work permit, something like that that might not be too comfortable for people on the hard left. are you comfortable with making that kind of compromise as a democrat now? >> i think we need to have a pathway to citizenship. i'm the grandson of a greek immigrant. >> what about enforcement? you're going for the low hanging fruit here. what about the tough stuff. being a democrat. you got to be very weak on enforcement, don't you? >> i don't know if you have to or not. i think -- >> see how -- >> see. >> what they have to do in their heart and what they believe is right. that's what i'm going to do whatever the issue might be. i will be guided by common sense and my heart and my upbringing and whey think is fair and right for all people. >> but you're going to accept

the democratic party sort of mainstream arguments, right, all of them? >> yes, yeah. >> that's quite a switch to go from being a republican who is upset and wants to be an independent and now you're saying i'm willing not to be an independent. >> i'm willing to be a democrat because i think the democratic party is where i am much more comfortable than i was as a republican or even an independent. i really do. i mean, i went to monticello last week and had the opportunity to see jefferson's home. you know, this guy who talked about trying to look out for each other, trying to look out for people, trying to do what was right and, you know, he's a great leader and a great man. and there is a great book on it john meacham just wrote and i enjoyed reading your book on jfk. >> welcome aboard i suppose to the center left. let me ask you about your potential here. i do think you were a very popular governor. and i think i talked to you're lieutenant governor on an airplane a while back and he said if you'd stayed there, you would still be there. so did you like that job in tallahassee as governor of florida? >> oh, it's a great job,

absolutely. you know, i talked to bob graham about it. he said, charlie, when you're governor of the state, it's like being the quarterback of the football team. you have the opportunity to call a lot more plays than you do when you're serving in the u.s. senate. you're more of a speck taker of what's going on. >> where was he when i needed him? where was he when you needed him? >> he's right there. >> because if he had advised you to do that, you would still be governor. >> yeah. well, maybe so. i had the wonderful opportunity and my wife did to have dinner with governor graham and adelle, and they are lovely people, and he is a great floridian and a great friend. >> if you had to advise somebody young deciding which political party, what would be your main knocks against the republican party 2012, right now? >> well, i just don't think they're very toll lant anymore and not very compassionate. at least the leadership. and i make that distinction because my mom and dad are compassionate people and they're still republicans, moderate republicans and i love them to death but i think the leadership of the party has lost its way.

i was proud to be a republican when i was because it was the party of abraham lincoln, the great emancipator. it was the party of teddy roosevelt who founded and set up our national park system and cared about the environment. those things are important to me. when the party start eed moving away from those thing and taking away the sunday before election to vote. there's a great tradition after church to go and vote in states that have early voting. it just seemed to me there was real suppression going on, it wasn't a tolerant party, it wasn't doing what was right for the environment or public education. i'm a public school kid. my dad was on the school board when i was a kid. i have three sisters, two have been public school teachers here in florida. i have a heart for that kind of thing, and it means an awful lot to me. people have told me for a long time, chris, charlie, you have really been a democrat, you just didn't know it. i mean, these are people that i went to college with and went to law school with. >> are you going to lead the

charge -- >> so i'm bloglad to be here. >> are you going to lead the charge around the country for people who were republicans to become democrats. >> i think they should if we were like me. sort of middle of the road and common sense republicans and they see what the leadership of the republican party is doing today, they ought to switch. they ought to become democrats because it's probably more true to their heart and their feeling if they're really more of a moderate type republican to see the kind of leadership we've seen in the republican party. why won't they compromise? why won't they cooperate? why won't they do the kind of things that the american people need and want to have done? this fiscal cliff is a perfect example of it. and i think we're starting to see a little movement. i'm pleased to see that happening. i'm glad speaker boehner met with the president yesterday. that's a positive step and i'm an optimist, so i hope that that continues. >> come see us if you decide to run for governor. we'll have a nice platform for you right here. thank you, charlie crist, democrat of florida. up next, the latest sighting of mitt romney in a place you'd

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president obama on thursday lit the national christmas tree or as fox news reported it obama insults israel. >> back to "hardball." now to the "sideshow." first, put up your mitt. on saturday night mitt romney and his wife, ann, had ringside seats at a fight in las vegas. manny pacquiao versus juan ma kez. romney's attempt at small talk however might have you thinking back to those awkward moments he had in the campaign. according to pacquiao's publicist romney said hello, manny. i ran for president. i lost. and so did manny, knocked out in

the sixth round. now to those republicans needing a reminder that the election is over. that president obama won. enter florida congressman alan west who lost his bid for re-election. what does he think about republicans negotiating for president obama on the fiscal cliff? like a lot of other things for alan west, it all comes down to socialism. here is what he told radio host mark levin. >> i think this whole thing about having negotiations with president obama is silly. president obama is marxist, socialist, rigid ideologue, and for whatever reason he believes he has some self-conceived mandate to go out and further destroy and ruin our economy. >> so if you have any lingering nostalgia for the clown show, that should kill it. west still thinks, by the way, his opponent patrick murphy somehow cheated in order to win the race. >> the most important thing everyone has to understand is that my voice is not going to be

lost. we will -- we've gotten a lot of opportunities, a lot of offers, and we're going to make sure that we continue to have that platform. i'm not going away just because of a congressional race where he had to to cheat to beet me. >> west campaign's spent about $18 million in his bid for re-election, more than four times what his opponent spent and then beat him. finally, how did tony o'donnell an associate of the gambino crime family try to sway the judges about to sentence him on several federal charges. the new york post got ahod of a cache of e-mails that his lawyer filed last week in an attempt to show that his client is friends with big league politicians. well, the catch, see if any of these e-mails o'donnell received 10u7nd sound or look familiar from president obama. quote, anthony i'm about to go to speak to the crowd here in chicago but i wanted to thank you first. from bill clinton, anthony, thank you so very much for your message on my 66th birthday. hearing from you made it a special day even more memorable.

that's right. he sent the judge pages of those generic mass produced thank you notes politicians blast out to anyone who winds up on their mailing list. pathetic defense. up next, the fiscal cliff. president obama's in campaign mode while republicans are considering, well, considering. can the president pull off a historic victory? maybe. you're watching "hardball," the place for politics. ♪ [ male announcer ] with free package pickup from the u.s. postal service the holidays are easy. visit usps.com. pay, print, and have it picked up for free before december 20h for delivery in time for the holidays. you can even give us special instructions on where to find it. free package pickup. from the u.s. postal service. because it's nice to have an extra pair of hands around for the holidays. because it's nice to have an extra pair of hands around

of washington about the future of medicare and social security. anncr: but you deserve straight talk about the options on the... table and what they mean for you and your family. ancr: aarp is cutting through all the political spin. because for our 37 million members, only one word counts. get the facts at earnedasay.org. let's keep medicare... and social security strong for generations to come. than giving her a diamond is surprising her with one. save the surprise. shop online and ship to any zales store free. only at the diamond store. ♪ i'm lost in the light progresso. in what world do potatoes, bacon and cheese add up to 100 calories? your world. ♪ [ whispers ] real bacon... creamy cheese... 100 calories... [ chef ] ma'am [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.

i'm hampton pearson with your cnbc market wrap. stocks make little gains as fiscal cliff worries hang over the markets. the dow is up 14 points. the s&p gains a fraction. the nas gak adds 8 points. mcdonald's shares ended 1% higher following stronger than expected november sales report. fed ex rose more than 1% on its

busiest day of the year. and gas prices are down about 10 cents over the last three weeks according to the lundberg survey. that's it from cnbc, first in business worldwide. now back to "hardball." ♪ welcome back to "hardball." last night president obama and house speaker john boehner met one-on-one at the white house to crunch a fiscal deal. it was 69 first time the two men met alone like this since the summer of 2011. the last time they tried to hammer out a deal. well, the president was in michigan today speaking before autoworkers and selling his tax plan. let's listen. >> if congress doesn't act soon, meaning the next few weeks, starting on january 1st everybody is going to see their income taxes go up.

it's true. y'all don't like that, huh? we can solve this problem. all congress needs to do is pass a law that would prevent a tax hike on the first $250,000 of everybody's income. everybody. that means 98% of americans and probably 100% of you. >> in some republicans are slowly but steadily fatesing a reality on the fiscal negotiations. leading the way, senator bob corker of tennessee. >> there is a growing group of folks that are looking at this and realizing we don't have a lot of cards as it relates to the tax issue before year end. i mean, we have one house, that's it. the presidency and the senate is in the democrats' hands. a lot of people are putting forth a theory and i actually think it has merit where you go ahead and give the president the 2% increase that he's talking about, the rate increase on the top 2%, and all of a sudden the

shift goes back to entitlements. >> well, senator corker and some republicans are no doubt aware that as this poll shows, if there's no fiscal agreement by the end 69 year, republicans get the majority of the blame. 53%, in fact. a majority of just 27% blame the president. joining me now is former republican national chairman and msnbc political analyst michael steele and managing editor of the grio, joy reid. thank you for joining us. this is a fascinating time and i picked up the paper this morning, joy, and i notice progress. i nts for the first time they're in the same room together. if you look at the nments the way they crunched them in "the washington post" which is a great paper on this stuff covering washington, as you know, it looks like they're reaching some kind of agreement, somewhere about $1 trillion, maybe up to $1.2 trillion on revenues. it looks like they're going to get somewhere short of a $1 trillion on spending. i'm looking at the whole thing. it looks like they're making progress. your assessment? >> i think there's progress accept that whenever john boehner makes public statements

he's continuing to say the revenues can come but not from raising the top rates. it's clear the white house is not going to give on that. boehner is going to have to find a way to get his caucus to understand those top rates are going to go up. after that there's a lot that can be negotiated. there's a lot these two guys can work on, but boehner has to give on the top rates. >> still with you, why do you think the president is spending so much time on the road drumming up this issue of making sure that the regular people, the 98%, get their tax cut protected and not the rich? why does he keep focused on that piece of this fight over and over again? what's the strategy here, the tactic here? >> i think that's where republicans are most vulnerable in their own district. it's hard to defend why it is that the one thing that you're standing for, the one thing you're saying that would stop a deal is tax cuts for the top 2%. most people can't relate to that even in these republican districts, especially swing districts. he's going to places like pennsylvania. he's going to swing states where those republicans are having a really hard time explaining to people why they're holding up their tax cut just so that, you

know, the ceo of some wall street firm can keep their tax cut. it's a really difficult idea to defend for republicans and the president knows that. >> i am inspired by boxing i am imagery because of the attendance of mitt romney and his wife to that boxing match. >> ko. >> i'm thinking of adrian. i'm thinking 6 pumping the guy in the eye that's bleeding. obama is basically a welterweight fighter, skinny guy, finding other guy's weakness. he can't defend the rich anymore. >> that's why corker is like could you move your head? just move? let's go for a fresh target. >> is that the tactic? >> exactly. to go for a fresh target here and the fresh target is give the president the top 2%. i mean, okay, may not be 39%, make it 37%. give him that and then let's have the conversation where the president doesn't want to dance -- >> what would sell to the republicans. we get into this thing they're talking about the clock ticking.

if they can get it done this week and next week finally. what is tougher for republicans? would it be easier on raising the rate for the rich but not quite the 39.6%. raising the amount we start raising the tax, 400 or 350? >> i think it's that -- >> which one, rate change or the level at which -- >> the level with which -- at which you raise that number. from 250 to 400. even the democrats are in that room saying, we could probably look at $500,000 or $1 million. i think that's number one. i think also the president is going to be having to deal with something that senator durbin recognized. we're going to have to give at some point on the entitlement front. they're just stalling that eventual outcome. boehner has a few cards he can play. he wants to quiet the noise on his side. you talked and joy rev renned why does he always say what he's saying publicly? that's to make sure that people know, look, this is still important for us. but he gets inside the room and he's negotiating a deal.

you even alluded to that movement -- >> okay. you're laying it out what you think the republicans can give. joy, just to put you in a tough position, what do you think the democrats, the 340d rats, the progressives want to see on the other side before they give on entitlements? do they want to see a rate change for the rich? a rate change just for people above 350, 400, something like that? before you take a piece out of me, you have to take that piece out of them. what is that piece? >> i think the rate change that the president ran on, the 250 and above is really important. i'll tell you why that is. it's because if you look at who got hurt the most in the downturn, it was the 98%, right? the very rich, the wealthiest in this country actually came off pretty well. they did pretty well even as the rest of the country was falling off a cliff. so the idea that you're going to take that tax code and you're going to make it a little more progressive, even if later on you did tax reform that let's say brought all the rates down, you will have now made that tax code a little more progressive. you will have given a little more pain relative to everyone else to the top 2%.

that's an important principle i think because this economic downturn has hurt the 98% so much more than the rich. i think it's really important to stay with what the president ran on, the 250 and above because, look, if they don't make a deal, it's going to happen anyway. republicans don't have any room to maneuver it up to $500,000. it's going to happen anyway. >> let's look at this new poll. shows raising tacks on the rich is overwhelmingly popular. no surprise there. 60% of the country favor raising taxes on house holds making $250,000 or more. 38% oppose it. >> yeah. >> i was thinking about 38 thrs. only 2% of the 38% get something out of it. 36% don't. >> i really don't think people who make $250,000 a year, a family of four $250,000 a year of annual income or adjusted gross income is rich. >> depends where you live. >> right. >> and very few people really make that. >> oh, it does. >> take that number and divide it by 12 months. >> if you're paying new york state taxes, city tax in a big

city -- >> that may be true, but, again, rich is a relative term and i think that's going to be part -- >> here is the thing though. fewer than 6% of americans make that kind of money. you know what i mean? $250,000 if you live in new york or d.c. you may not think that sounds like a lot of money where you grew up in colorado, arkansas, north dakota, believe me very few people you know are making that kind of money. >> in pennsylvania very few counties have people that even know people like that. thank you, michael steele and joy reid. up next, from etch-a-sketch to legitimate rape. remember those great phrase s. to 47%. yale university has the list of the most notable screw up quotes of the year. they're almost all terrible. which quote tops your list? we'll be right back. this is "hardball," the place for politics.

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no, i'm good. you got it? yes. rates for us and them -- now that's progressive. call or click today. we're back. of all the memorable lines this year, and there were many, which ones proved to be the most notable? well, for the seventh year, yale law school librarian fred shapiro has released his list of the top ten quotes. they are certainly some of the most memorable lines spoken this year. which ones will stand the test of time? you be the judge. to help sift through a few of them we have eugene robinson, columnist for "the washington post" and david corn, washington bureau chief for mother jones. both are msnbc political analysts. so here we go. let's start with you, gene. look at this one. a memorable moment from the spring while we were still in the middle of a tough primary fight that pushed romney to the

far right. the question many were asking was could he pivot back to the center in the general election? and then this happened. the number seven quote of the year. let's watch. >> he hit a reset button for the fall campaign. everything changes. it's almost like an etch-a-sketch. you can kind of shake it up and we start all over again. >> impact statement of etch-a-sketch. >> yeah. it was wonderful because that quote confirmed what everyone suspected about mitt romney. you know, the great thing about it, a gaffe is the truth. >> if you don't agree with me now, wait two minutes and you will agree with me. one that was much more infamous because it really hurt among women. if one comment crystallized the overwhelm trouble the republican party had with women it was this. take a look at the number six category here. >> first of all, from what i understand from doctors, that's really rare. if it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. >> okay. for quack medicine that's got to

be the award winner. >> it's still painful to watch and hear him say that, and i think the key thing is, you know, it got him not to become senator, but remember the republican party turned against him for that remark, but then a few weeks later, a month or two later, came running right back. >> what was worse, his surmise that most women shouldn't be believed when they were raped or this crazy metaphysics, al kem kemy that said you don't get pregnant if you really don't want to be? >> it just goes to the whole republican narrative that they don't know science, don't care about science. >> they make it up. >> and really don't understand. >> the former was obnoxious, the second was stupid. >> the president was looking to come on strong in the last two debates. here was a memorable line from the third debate that ranked as the number five quote of the year. take a look. >> you mentioned the navy, for example, and that we have fewer ships than we did in 1916. governor, we also have fewer

horses and bayonets because the nature of our military has changed. we have these things call aircraft carriers were planes land on them. we have ship that is go underwater, nuclear submarines. >> perhaps the most memorable moment from the debates occurred in this second round. take a look at the number four quote. >> i think it's interesting that the president just said something which is that on the day after the attack he went in the rose garden and said that this was an act of terror. >> that's what i said. >> you said in the in the rose the day after the attack, it was an act of terror. it was not a spontaneous demonstration. is that what you're saying? >> please proceed, governor. >> so why was that so powerful? i know you're chuckling, but why does it work so well for him to say please proceed, governor? >> exactly. just continue because you're about to get slammed. and, you know, there's an ominous tone there. and romney had to kind of think, gee, do i keep going?

but he kept going. >> he also has a dismissive tone. there was so much wrapped up. >> we didn't know in realtime that he had the guy trapped at that point. we only knew that he said don't start pushing me around. here's one that hurt the president. let's take a look at this one. this ranks as number three. you watched the republican kwon ven convention, you might have heard this a few times. let's listen to this one. this hurt the president, i think. >> if you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. there was a great teacher somewhere in your life. somebody helped to create this unbelievable, american system that we have that allowed you to thrive. somebody invested in roads and bridges. if you've got a business, you didn't build that. >> it was almost a socialist

argument, they said. the person is not responsible for the business success because the society did it for them somehow. >> they claimed he was insulting the small business. he was basically saying everyone in america gets to where they are inside the context. and they spend a whole night at the convention going again and again and again. and all the polls showed at the end of the day, it go to nowhere. >> oh, come on. >> you can't build a campaign if you're romney -- >> are you on the giving inch on anything? i'm asking you a philosophical question. >> yes, i am. i think when he said the private sector is doing fine, that was a much worse statement. >> i any this was pretty bad, actually. yes, it was taken out of context, but, in fact, he said it. it did hurt him. in the end, it didn't hurt that much. but that's because of the huge pushback. weeks and weeks of pushback. >> look. here this is.

it blew up the network. twitter went wild. he was number 2 two on the list this year. >> we took a concerted effort to go out and find women who had backgrounds to be qualified. i went to a number of women's groups and said can you help us find folks. and they brought us binders full of women. >> what was funny there? >> it's funny because it's like a fire side theater line, a marx brothers line, you know, binderful of women. >> he should have said binders full of resumes. >> kpaktsly. talk about objectifying women. >> i didn't think that was such a big deal when i heard it the first time. i thought he was submitting brand new resumes. >> it opened him up to ridicule. here's the last one, the quote of the year. we know it is, but here it is. listen to it. you probably remember a few discussions about this throughout the campaign. it never went away.

i don't think it ever well. let's watch. >> . all the money they spent, all the work was undone by probably one waiter in that caterering group that locked in that tv camera and picked it up. >> 67 seconds versus a billion dollars from advertising and everything else. one person, on their own -- don't tell your kids at home they can't make a difference. one person, on their own, undid a campaign. >> what was it? a cell phone? why do you think it had such bounce? >> i think two things. i think it confirmed the narrative. i think using the term 47%. if you said half the people or a

lot of americans. his clinical, passionate, precise description. >> i think david is right. it was the precision of it. and the fact that he really believes it. he still does. >> he's been thinking about his post-election. >> he's found a stat on this he just loved. anyway, thank you. what a great show this has been. when we return, let me finish with the numbers that made a difference in this presidential election. you'll recognize three of them. you're watching "hardball," the place for politics. ♪

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let me finish tonight with this. here's a "hardball" take away for you. think about the role played this past election year by percentages. remember one percent? that was the battle cry of the movement. that one percent that focused on the very top of this country's economic pile had a lot of influence. it persuaded a lot of fair bs. here's another one. eight percent. obama hadn't gotten that unemployment rate down below that number, he would have had a far harder time winning last month. i believe i said this earlier in the campaign. if it was under agt, obama would become the faif rit. if not, he wouldn't. ma imagine if that number had been spiking in the other direction.